YEAR 2: GROWING IN THE LIFE OF PRAYER AND LOVE

MAKING PROGRESS IN THE LIFE OF PRAYER AND LOVE (B) RENEWAL BY FOLLOWING OUR LADY AS OUR MODEL

Weekly message No. 57 (28th March 1985)

Progress in joyful prayer.

“Dear children! Today I wish to call you to pray, pray, pray! In prayer you shall perceive the greatest joy and the way out of every situation that has no exit. Thank you for starting up prayer. Each individual is dear to my heart. And I thank all who have urged prayer in their families. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

Daily Spiritual Exercises - Week 57 Starts Thursday, 26 March 2015

1st Day: Thursday Honesty

Matthew 5:33-37 Again you have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

Cf. James 5:12 But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath, but let your yes be yes and your no be no; that you may not fall under condemnation.

2nd Day: Friday Persevering in prayer

Luke 11:9-13
And I tell you, Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!

Cf. John 14:13-14
Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; if you ask anything in my name, I will do it.

3rd Day: Saturday Joyful and thankful prayer

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Cf. Psalm 100 - A joyful hymn to the Lord
Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the lands! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the LORD is God! It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him, bless his name! For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures for ever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

4th Day: Sunday St. Paul’s joyful prayer

Philippians 1:3-11
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, thankful for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel thus about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruits of righteousness which come through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

5th Day: Monday St. Paul’s prayer for the Christians to grow in the knowledge of God.

Colossians 1:9-12
And so, from the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, to lead a life worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

6th Day: Tuesday In order to stand firm in the faith we must grow in the grace and in the knowledge of Jesus.

2 Peter 3:17-18
You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, beware lest you be carried away with the error of lawless men and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Cf. Luke 17:5
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

7th Day: Wednesday St. Paul’s joy and gratitude before the Lord for the Thessalonians for whom he prays that they may increase in love and holiness.

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
For what thanksgiving can we render to God for you, for all the joy which we feel for your sake before our God, praying earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith? Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you; and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all men, as we do to you, so that he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

Cf. 2 Thessalonians 1:3
We are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, as is fitting, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.

SUGGESTION ​This week make an honest assessment of whether your life of prayer has improved during the past year.